Comedians captivate campus crowd

Andrew Rivers and Steve Hofstetter performed several ludicrous jokes regarding politics, dogs, feminism, children and sleeping in, something most college students only dream of.

The audience, with free snacks in hand provided by the Associated Student Council, howled with laughter as the comedians performed a free show in the Pirate Union Building April 15.

“I love performing for colleges, college is an environment where people are open to learning,” Hofstetter said.

He was excited to see that extra seats had to be pulled out for the larger than expected crowd.

Rivers opened for Hofstetter. His act was filled with stories about his experiences in Seattle and witty jabs at himself.

“I’m definitely a self-deprecating comedian,” Rivers said.

“It’s a lot easier to make fun of myself and also gives me the chance to talk about politics but not get in trouble with anyone by saying ‘I don’t know though, I’m kind of an idiot,” Rivers said.

He said, “My success is determined by me, well mostly me and a little bit of luck, I’m in control, even if it’s just the illusion of being in control, I still have control.”

One of Rivers inspirations is his good friend Hofstetter, who has more of an opportunity to be political in his acts.

Rivers has been a comedian for the last seven years, six of which he toured.

The Seattle-based comedian was originally in marketing, but was laid off, which left him jobless and living on unemployment, however, this gave him the opportunity to become a successful comedian and the opportunity to perform over 300 shows in his first year.

“Your high school counselor doesn’t tell you that being a comedian can be an actual career” Rivers said.

Due to this he tends to get several people confronting him when his set is finished.

Hofstetter, who includes several jokes about politics and society in his shows said, “I can’t stand when other people’s prejudice become my laws.

“Don’t confront a comedian after a show, we are professionally witty.” Hofstetter said.

During a Q and A, Hofstetter continued to tell the audiences of his best, or what could be considered worst, responses to people confronting him after shows, and in turn making the audience howl with laughter as he told of his quick wit saving the day multiple times.

One such time when he had unknowingly performed for a few members of the Ku Klux Klan that were in his audience.

Hofstetter was downright scared for his life when two KKK members were blocked his exit.

Thankfully he made it out alive, with them stopping to say that his show was: “Funny as shit.” Hofstetter mentioned that he toyed with the idea of adding that performance on his website, but was hesitant to do so because of the possibility of losing fans.

Hofstetter described his comedic style as being a social critic and that he has a tendency to go off script.

He has been a comedian for 14 years, although he started with improv at the age of 13 which was 23 years ago.

“I became a comedian because I kind of failed at everything else.

“I started by passing out flyers in New York City in return for five minutes on stage.

“I always wanted to be a writer and make people laugh, being a comedian gave me the chance to do both,” said Hofstetter.

When asked about his big break, Hofstetter said, “Comedy is a series of breaks, there really is no big break,” although he did go on to say that two important milestones in his career include appearing on “Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson,” Getting his own show, and a portion of his act that went viral online in recent weeks.

According to his website, Hofstetter is one of the most popular acts to book on the college circuit and the original writer for collegehumor.com.

The successful comedian has also written humor columns for the New York Times and has released five albums and three books.

More can be found about Hofstetter on his website: http://www.stevehofstetter. com/